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差不多占总员工的3.5个百分点。; g4 r& i& z+ V1 B& I
$ A& B2 h n8 i; m! O; RFinning Canada has laid off 160 salaried staff in Alberta and B.C. as sales of Caterpillar equipment slows in the economic downturn.
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+ }! q+ I! }3 ^! }& A6 V0 [4 pEvery office and every staff level, from support staff to management, in both provinces were affected, human resources vice-president Miles Hunt said Thursday.* ?) w# i/ ?6 M: y' t4 _3 o
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Twenty-nine people lost their jobs in Edmonton, where Finning Canada has its head office.% z( b, X' u* K5 ^4 s, b3 i, B
$ q# I1 [' m3 ?2 y: |, f$ ?; R"It's the toughest decision we have to make in our business life, and it's been a hard few days for us," Hunt said.
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" d l5 [" n* z/ q# |It brings Finning Canada's workforce down to about 4,300.1 {& _# E6 g. ?
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No hourly workers - who service and rebuild construction and mining equipment - are affected.
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9 w7 h$ {1 b* z$ J$ \% y" }4 w& k5 }. k8 ZIn fact, the company is still hiring mechanics and technicians, Hunt said.7 ]9 r r g, d9 M( S# U- i
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"That's the paradoxical thing. Even though things are changing, Fort McMurray (Alta.) is still growing, and we need more people up there," he said.. x: Y7 n8 i, z5 Z N% S
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"It's our customers who are going to get us through this, and that's the last place we want to cut."$ X0 x% T: {7 d% z2 `
+ _0 u% n: R9 wThe recent delays and cancellations of oilsands projects - a major income source for Finning - was not a factor in the layoffs, Hunt said.
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"We're still very busy in the oilsands."$ w8 T( ]" I+ m P' o% t
" q1 ^& n7 }, O% sHunt said Finning has been immune to recent downturns, but is now being affected by slowing sales in some areas., O9 J A! j3 e& j. @9 e2 H
' F9 E# c. r; L" O7 m$ DThey will continue to monitor the situation, but "we can't say it's the end" of layoffs, he added.( D$ J: ]. `) q8 [
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The employees, most of whom got the bad news Wednesday, will get severance packages and outplacement help, he said.
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9 s r4 }2 E' s- @0 i" f" fMike Waites, CEO of Vancouver-based parent company Finning International Inc., recently lowered the 2008 earnings guidance due to a slowdown in some of its businesses in Western Canada and the United Kingdom.
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Demand for new equipment will likely soften and some purchases may be deferred, but that will result in an increase in its parts and service business - Finning's most profitable business - he said.
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Finning reported third-quarter net income of $64.8 million compared to $63.6 million for the same quarter last year. Revenues were a record $1.46 billion, compared to $1.33 billion a year before.- i: O8 r y3 P* A! U v
: b: p9 h' g: bIts order backlog has also grown to a new record of $2 billion, dominated by mining equipment, "and provides good revenue visibility for 2009 and into 2010," Waites said. |
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